Blood and Scales
by Vampire-Apprentice
Summary: A daughter no one knew he had, suddenly appears in Cirque Du Freak, and Crepsley really doesn't know what to do, because he never thought that he would see her again. Only, when she meets Evra, he realises that this was all his daughter wanted, but when her happiness is threatened, will he stand by his daughter and will Evra fall in love and stand by her, or will she be by herself?
1. Chapter 1

You're Crepsley's what?

Hundreds of years I've been walking the earth, an immortal, forever seventeen. I don't ever remember being a human, well I'm not entirely sure whether I've chosen not to remember any of it, but what would there be to remember? I wasn't much, I barely remember my mother, and I doubted very much that I would have even remembered her piercing eyes if it wasn't for the painting of her which was in my locket, and the fact that I had a reflection and I found that I had the same piercing eyes. Don't even get me started on my father; he goes by the name of Mr. Crisply I think. That's a barrel of laughs. Anyway, my name is Katie, just Katie nothing else. I don't know what's brought me here tonight; I guess it was just a really bad feeling. You're probably wondering what I'm actually talking about right? Well I'm stood across a rather large lake, against a tree; my black clothes hiding me in the shadows of the night as I watched what looked like a circus get set up. In truth, it was actually a circus, it was known as Cirque Du Freak, and this was my home. It had been a while since my father had brought me here when I was a new vampire; I doubted that anyone would remember me. I fit in rather well until I had to leave again, because I'm not just a vampire, I'm also seen as a freak.

I watched people come and go, before a black car pulled out, even from where I was hiding and through the dark, I read the number plate quite clearly, and written on it was the word: DES-TINY. This sent a shiver down my spine, I've heard of the person who owned this car before, Mr. Tiny, a man with power and he certainly knew how to use it. Looking up into the tree that I was leaning again, I decided to get a better view, using my dagger like nails, I clawed my way up into the tree, and then proceeded to move from tree to tree, using each branch that I could reach, until I was in the closest tree, hiding perfectly as I watched the scene before me. Below me, in the midst of the people, the car stopped and a porky looking man got out, giving off a laugh as little gremlin looking things ran to him, and then I noticed a boy get out the opposite side. His eyes a deep purple, his hair dark and spiked, his clothes were modern so he could have been a new vampire, and I watched him look around, his eyes scanning the area though I knew that he wasn't looking for me. He must have seen what he was looking for though, as he suddenly tensed his eyes staring straight at a boy with chocolate brown hair.

"Darren." The boy with black hair muttered to the other boy.

"Steve." The boy, now newly named Darren muttered in returned.

"Mr Tiny, what do we owe this pleasure?" A man as tall as the trees were high, asked as he walked out of what I presumed was his tent.

"I just came to see if there was anything new." Mr Tiny told him, waving his hands in slight exaggeration. "And, to give Steve the chance to see his old friend, Darren." He didn't seem fazed by the way that Steve suddenly grabbed the Darren boy by his neck.

"Yeah, just to see my best buddy again." Steve told him darkly.

"Let go of him." A man suddenly walked to them, and it made me tense, his skin was peach in colour, his hair sandy and messy, and his eyes cold and stern, a scar down the left hand side of his face. I recognised him immediately, even if it had been so long – he was my father. The boy now called Steve, removed his hand from Darren's throat, and stalked back over to Mr. Tiny.

Mr. Tiny looked at my father, and he walked to stand right in front of him. "I don't think you have the right to order my Vampanese around, do you Crepsley?"

He just looked at him. "He has no right, threatening my Assistant." He told him simply, which caused Mr. Tiny to smirk, before he clicked his fingers and he and Steve got back into the car, driving away. I watched the car drive away from my new advantage point, and then I looked back at the others, watching as my father put a hand to the Darren boy's shoulder, when the boy nodded, he let go as a girl ran over and threw her arms around the boy, and another guy walked over to however this one wasn't like the others. His skin was green and scaly, and I was able to make out his eyes which resembled those of a snake, he and the Darren boy seemed to be pretty good things. This ignited my jealousy, as I watched them, being a vampire had been a lonely life for me; I left my father's side and never had any friends or loved ones.

I stayed in that tree for a while, and I slowly watched the fire pits die out as everyone went to bed for the night and for Crepsley and Darren for the morning. I seemed to zone out as I closed my eyes, but my eyes suddenly shot open as I felt something pulling on my leg.

"It's alright; I'm not going to hurt you." Mr. Tall told her as she climbed down from the tree.

Katie looked at him, holding what looked like a knife in her hand. "You won't hurt me? I think I've got more of a chance to hurt you."

He nodded. "I don't think you will, now please come with me." He took her over to his tent and let her inside. "So, you're Katie Crepsley."

She nodded, standing in the doorway of the tent. "Yes, I assume you already know who my father is."

He nodded again as he sat at his desk. "I remember you when I was young, you certainly had a wonderful gift, and what was it we used to call you?"

"I think you used to call me, Elementa." She told him, moving to sit on a stool when he gestured to one.

"I don't know why you're here; but would you like to join our Cirque?"

"I'm not exactly the best person to be around this large amount of people."

"I have faith in you Kate." Mr. Tall told her, standing up and walking to her.

She raised an eyebrow, as he got close and she looked up at him. "Can I stay in here? Even if you stick a coffin or just a box in the corner and forget that I'm here."

He nodded. "Of course." He walked over to where a box was, and he looked at her. "This is the best that I can do."

"It's fine." She watched him open it, before she climbed in and curled up on her side. "Good night."

"Good night." Mr. Tall told her, closing the box for her and putting something heavy on top of it. He looked over at the box, as he went to where his bed was; tomorrow was going to be entertaining when Katie and Crepsley got to see each other, and he wanted to be awake enough to witness this.

The next night, he knocked on the top of the box that Katie was lying in and when she knocked back, he opened it for her and offered her his hand when she stood up, helping her out. "Are you ready to meet the others?"

She nodded, letting go of his hand and following him outside, where there was a group of people around the fireplace.

"Now, everyone," Mr. Tall shouted. "I would like to introduce you all, to the newest member of the Cirque Du Freak." He gestured over to Katie, who had now pulled her hood up over her dark brown hair and face. "Her name is Katie Crepsley, and her show name used to be Elementa."

Katie looked up when he said her show name, and her eyes locked with her father. "Hello father."

Everyone looked at Crepsley, and then back to Katie, before the girl who had hugged Darren last night, walked to her.

"Hello, I'm Rebecca." She smiled at her, holding a hand out to her, which Katie took and shook it.

"I'm Katie." She told her, seeing her smile, though she kept her face composed and expressionless.

"Rebecca will show you to your tent Katie, now try and have some fun." Mr. Tall told her, as he and Crepsley walked away, obviously to talk to Katie.

"So, what can you do then Katie?" One of the women asked, as they crowded around her.

"Guys, give her some air." Rebecca told them, as they pushed them back away from Katie. "Let me show her to her room first, and then you can all talk to her." She brought Katie to a tent near, one that she showed to be her own. "This one will be yours."

"Thank you, you don't by any chance know if there is coffins in there for me do you?"

"Oh, you're a vampire..." Rebecca looked taken aback. "I'll try and find one for you, it won't be glamorous, so will that do for tonight?"

"Well, last night I slept in a cardboard box, so if it's better than that they it will be fine." Katie raised an eyebrow as Rebecca laughed.

"I'll leave you to look around your place, and then I'll come back in a few minutes, I need to go and see my boyfriend."

"Okay, have fun I guess." She watched her go, before she walked inside her tent, and looked around, there was literally nothing in there but herself, but she had lived with less, so she didn't mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Snake boy

They all swarmed around her like vultures on a carcass, the new girl looked cute and someone who liked to have a good laugh despite her cold complexion. I stayed out of the way, since it was that time of year again, and I was starting to shed my scales again, though my eyes occasionally met hers as she looked around. When Rebecca led her to her tent, Darren walked over to me.

"Stop staring and go and talk to her." Darren told me, nudging me in the side.

"I'm not staring." I told him, defensively.

"Yeah sure, come on let's go and introduce ourselves." He told me, suddenly grabbing my t-shirt and dragged her towards the new girl's tent and I let him.

When we got to the girl's tent, Rebecca was coming back towards it as well, and she looked at me and Darren, she was holding a blanket and a pillow.

"Ah Darren, can you go and ask Crepsley for a spare coffin? She needs somewhere to sleep in the morning."

_"Of course, she's a vampire, she's Crepsley's daughter."_ Evra though, mentally cursing himself for it taking him this long to realise, and the group jumped when they heard a voice behind them.

"You know that you guys speak quite loud right?" Katie asked them as she appeared behind them. "If you're going to come in, then don't start speaking in the doorway." She walked back inside her tent.

Darren let Rebecca go in ahead of him, and he then followed her dragging Evra with him.

Evra allowed his snake eyes to glance around the tent that he had been dragged into. It was bare, with the usual facilities, though there was Katie's black converse on the floor by the door, and he noticed her slid her black hooded jacket off, showing pale arms and a low cut black top, which matched her black jeans perfectly. He then noticed Katie looking at them.

"So, I know why Rebecca is here, but why are you two here?" She asked, gesturing a tiny porcelain coloured hand over to them, before she took the blanket and pillow from Rebecca.

"I told Darren to go and get you a coffin from Crepsley, and I don't actually know why he and Evra are here." Rebecca told her.

"Uh, well I thought that I'd come and say introduce myself. So yeah, I'm Darren Shan, assistant to your father…" He noticed the hard look in her eyes as he said that. "And this is Era Von-"

"A vampire, boyfriend to a monkey girl, and a snake boy, it's been a while since I've met anyone like you three." Katie commented, as she put the blanket and pillow onto a low wooden table.

"Yeah, I'm not actually meant to be here, I just came in because Darren dragged me, and half of my scales with him." Evra commented.

"Yeah, I can see that shedding isn't so fun." Katie laughed, and her laugh sounded like bells.

"Anyway, Darren and I are going to go and get you a coffin, Evra why don't you stay and talk with her." Rebecca suggested, as she and Darren left.

Evra looked at them helplessly as they left, before he heard Katie speak.

"You don't have to stay if you don't want to." She shrugged.

"Nah, I'll stay, can't leave you on your own with the sun about to come up, you might need some protection." Evra smiled, he admitted that it was a pretty pathetic and weak smile, but it was a smile of comfort all the same.

Katie gave him a small smile, before she hopped up onto the table. "You know, I came here years ago, when Mr. Tall was younger." She laughed. "He was still quite tall for his age, even back then."

Evra moved to sit on the table next to her. "How old are you, if I don't mind asking?"

"I'm breaching two hundred." She told him, looking at him.

"Wow, so you were here, how long ago?"

"About seventeen years ago, I don't know how or why Mr. Tall found me and called me back here." Katie mused. "I didn't even think he would remember me."

"You'd be surprised what people around here, remember." Evra laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I would be."

They sat on the table, talking until Darren and Rebecca came back, Darren carrying the coffin over his shoulder and Rebecca following on behind him.

"Where would you like me to put this Katie?"

Katie and Evra both slid off the table, and picked up the blanket and pillow. "Right here, thanks." When he put it down, Katie opened it and Rebecca screamed as a mouse climbed out.

"Whoa, hey where do you think you're going?" Katie asked the mouse, as she picked it up, and held it in her hands.

"Um Katie, that's a mouse." Rebecca squeaked, hiding behind Darren.

"Yeah, I know." She shrugged, before she put the mouse on the floor and watched it run off. "Cute little things." She put the blanket into the coffin, and she watched Evra put the pillow in as well.

"Well, it's nearly morning, so I guess we had all best go and get some rest." Darren told them.

"Do you need any help climbing in?" Evra asked her.

"No, I'll be fine…But thank you anyway." Katie smiled at him, as she climbed into her coffin, before she lay down.

"How does that feel?" Rebecca asked her. "I tried to find the comfiest blanket and pillow that I could."

"It's fine, thank you Rebecca." She pulled the blanket over herself.

"Sleep well." They told her, as they left and they smiled slightly at hearing her tell them the same.

Evra waited with Darren outside of Rebecca's tent, and he looked away as they kissed each other good night, before the two guys walked towards their tent.

"What are you thinking about?" Darren asked him as they walked.

"Nothing." He told him instantly. "What makes you think that I'm thinking about anything?"

"The fact that you have that look in your eye." When Evra looked at him in slight confusion, he decided to explain. "You only ever get that look when you're thinking of something."

Evra rolled his eyes, trust his friend to be this observant. "It's nothing that you would be interested in, it's just music."

Darren raised an eyebrow at him. "Alright Evra, whatever you say." He pretended to just shrug it off, but he knew something was on his best friend's mind.

They both walked into their tent as Darren slid his leather jacket off as Evra zipped up the tent door, and as he got ready for bed, Darren looked at him.

"Katie seems like a nice girl, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess she does." Evra shrugged, trying to look like he didn't care, when really he was starting to feel things for her.

Darren didn't press on that subject for long, instead he climbed into his coffin. "See you in the evening Evra." He closed the lid.

Evra nodded. "Sleep well." He lay in his own bed, which consisted of the usual blanket and pillow despite being part snake, and he looked up at the ceiling of the tent, his mind flashing to Katie. This was going to be an eventful sleep.


	3. Authors note

**AUTHORS NOTE**

hey everyone listen, i know that I've only got 2 of these whispering voices criticising, but please just stop I know that vampires can't have kids, all the stuff about crepsley and Darren, but I'm basing it off the movie and my imagination, so if you're going to criticise, then wait until the end of the story that way you know where I'm taking this.

thanks


	4. Chapter 3

Budding Friendship 

Days passed since Katie arrived and joined in with the Cirque, and she was settling well, she and Rebecca had become really close friends in this time. One night, they were all sitting around a fire, talking and laughing at some tricks and jokes that the others made. Katie was watching from her tent like she normally did, and she seemed to be daydreaming.

"Hey Katie, come and join us." Rebecca shouted over, from where she was sat with Darren, wearing his jacket as she leant into him.

Katie snapped out of her daydream and she thought about it for a few minutes, then she took a deep breath and walked over, moving to sit on the floor since all of the chairs were taken.

"So, Katie, what do you do?" One of the other freaks asked, who Katie had found out to be Corma Limbs.

"I'm an elementalist." Katie told her.

"What's one of them?" Rebecca asked her.

Katie sighed and stood, she knew this was going to happen. "You guys might want to take a few steps back." She took off her jacket, revealing scarred arms, and she threw it a good distance away as she watched the others move away. "If you have heart problems, please look away now."

She extended her hand towards the fire pit, and she closed her eyes, when they were opened again, they were a mixture of orange and red flames, and the flames started to dance towards her arms. When they touched her arms, they turned into two balls of fire and she made them from one, before she started to play with them like they were an ordinary ball instead of a ball of deadly fire.

Evra watched the show that she was given, and he marvelled in the look of concentration on her face as she showed them when she could do. And he noticed dirt and rocks starting to move towards her as well, but they stayed on the ground.

"What is going on here then?" A voice asked, and Katie's concentration was broke, the ball of fire hitting the floor, and as the things around her caught fire, she stamped it out.

"Damn in, don't break my concentration like that Hibernius." Katie told him, as she looked at Mr Tall.

"It's Mr Tall now Kate." He laughed. "Do you still do your acrobatics?"

"Yeah, I've incorporated the two now." She shrugged.

Everyone looked between them, and there seemed to be some form of close bond between the two individuals, and everyone vowed to find out what. Evra watched the pair, and he felt a sudden burst of jealousy as how close they were, but he tried to push it back, when Mr Tall left.

"Is that all you can do Katie?" Alexander Ribs asked her, as he cuddled with Corma Limbs, looking at her.

"Sort of, I can bend other elements too, such as water and the wind, but the wind is really hard to control." She told him. "Fire is my best element."

"I thought that fire could kill a vampire." Darren asked.

"It can, she's a freak so it doesn't affect her as much." MrCrepsley told them, as he suddenly grabbed one of Katie's arms, showing them the scars. "Burn scars, they look fresh, what have you been doing?"

"Why do you care?" Katie asked him, pulling her arm back, before she slid her jacket on, to hide her arms.

Crepsley was about to comment on it, but couldn't as a black car pulled up – Mr Tiny was back.

Mr Crepsley walked over to Darren, Rebecca and Evra as Mr Tiny and the Steve boy got out of the car. Although, both of their eyes suddenly fell onto Katie, and Mr Tiny suddenly clapped his hands with a happy smile on his face.

"Ah, young Katie, back with the Cirque I see." He walked over to her, holding a hand out to her.

Katie raised an eyebrow, looked at his hand and then looked back at his face, folding her arms across her chest. "I don't believe that we have met."

"Ah, of course, my name is Mr Des Tiny, and this is my _assistant_ Steve Leonard." He gestured for Steve to walk over.

Steve walked over to the girl and Mr Tiny, though his eyes looked the girl up and down and if he could, he would probably be drooling right about now.

"Steve…" He held his hand out to her.

"Yeah, he's just told me." Katie shook his hand, though she pulled it away soon after.

"Why are you here, Mr Tiny?" The question came from Mr Tall.

"I just came to see how your new freak was settling in, and well I can see that she is settling in just fine." He smiled a devilish smile at Katie.

Katie simply raised an eyebrow, and she took a step closer to Mr Tall, which caused Steve to bare his vampire teeth, and Katie to do the same.

"Don't even think about it." Katie told him. "Because if you touch my friends, I will actually end you." She warned him, her voice dark.

Steve just gave her an evil smirk, before he retracted his teeth, and Mr Tiny told him to stop.

"Come now Steve, let's not pick fights with a girl."

Steve rolled his eyes, before he followed Mr Tiny as he went to look for the Little People, and he looked unamused when they all ran to him and nearly broke into a brawl with each other, just so they could see and touch him.

Katie watched them go, before Rebecca, Darren and Evra walked to her, Rebecca hugging her for some reason that Katie couldn't exactly comprehend.

"Are you alright?" Rebecca asked her when she had finally let go of Katie.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, Mr Tiny is pretty ruthless." Evra explained.

"Yeah, but it looks like Steve has his eyes set on you." Darren told her, though this just made Katie even more confused.

"Oh god Darren, don't confuse her." Rebecca told him and she looked at Katie "He means that Steve likes you."

"Do you think so?" She asked, causing Rebecca to giggle.

"Most definitely, and Darren knows when Steve likes someone." Rebecca giggled.

Katie didn't think anything of it after that, instead she walked towards where Evra and Darren's tent was.

When they were all huddled around inside, with Katie sitting on the floor with Rebecca and Darren who were cuddled up together, and Evra was sitting on a stool with his guitar, did they all stop talking. Through the silence, Evra played his guitar, it wasn't his usual electric one, but instead a soft and ordinary acoustic one. He played the songs that everyone requested, and Darren and Rebecca requested much more than Katie did, and they sang all of the songs – not in perfect tune, but at least they knew the words. Katie just leant back with her eyes closed, listening to Evra play, and in truth, she admired him for it, because he was really good, not to mention really handsome – despite his green snake scales.

"Come on Katie, do you have anything to request?" Rebecca asked her, as everyone looked at her.

Katie looked at them. "Not really, I'm afraid that I don't know much modern music."

"Well then, it shall be my job to educate you." Rebecca laughed.

Katie simply raised a delicate eyebrow. "Can you show me how to play sometime?" She asked Evra, who immediately went shy and nodded, whilst Katie smiled. Eventually, Katie and Rebecca walked back to their tents, and they stopped outside of Rebecca's tent.

"Hey, you and Evra seem to be getting along really well."

"What makes you say that?" She asked.

"Well, I'm not sure really, you two just seem to have a close connection." She shrugged, unzipping her tent with her tail. "I guess I'll see you in tomorrow evening then."

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow evening." Katie nodded, walking the short few steps to her tent as Rebecca went inside and zipped hers up. when she was safely shut in her tent, she went about her usual ritual of washing her face and then changing into some comfier clothes, before she climbed into her coffin, fixing her pillow and pulling the blanket over herself, before she pulled the lid down and stared at the lid. only thing - or person - on her mind was the snake boy, she had started to like him, but she knew that it wouldn't be possible to be in love with him.

_"I'm being ridiculous, why would a snake want to be in love with a leach?" _She asked herself, before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

A few days passed, and one night, Evra and Katie were sitting in Evra's tent cross-legged on the floor and Evra was showing Katie some chords on a guitar and he watched her repeat his motions on the guitar that she had hold of. it surprised Evra by how fast she could learn, and they were soon playing a song together. They seemed to be pretty happy, enjoying their moment of peace and music together, that they didn't notice Crepsley watching them from afar. Crepsley watched his daughter with almost fascination, he hadn't ever known her to be around people like she was with Evra, and if he was honest, he didn't like their closeness.

"Will you stop watching them?" Madame Trusca told him, as she came up behind him as slid a hand down his chest.

"I don't like them being that close." He told her, not taking his eyes off of Katie and Evra.

"After all this time, you never stopped worrying about her safety, did you?"

He shook his head and sighed, looking at her. "Her mother died, I didn't know that she had been born until she was a few months old, I became a vampire at this time, and I looked after her as best as I could. Then I found out about her ability, she could control any element, with ease and it was wonderful for me to watch her." He told her, sitting on some pillows with her when they went inside her tent, and Madame Trusca listened intently to her lover. "I brought her here, when Mr Tiny found out about what she could do, but he followed us here, she wouldn't remember him because she chose not to and it has been centuries. I knew that he wanted her to join the Vampaneez, so I made the first move, when she reached eighteen, I blood let with her. She completed the change on her own, killing another freak in rage."

"That doesn't mean that she will do the same now. Larten, don't worry so much about her, it has been centuries, allow her to make friends and have fun."

"I don't feel that I am able to do that, she is my daughter, and I know that she doesn't like me, but I still feel as though I need to protect her."

"Why does she hate you?"

"Because after I promised that I would stay with her, I left her when she needed me the most, when she needed her father I ran. I was a coward, and I've jeopardised the nice and easy relationship that I had with her, because I was scared to die for her."

Madame Trusca sighed, she wasn't used to the look of fragility in him that he was now suddenly showing, to know that he had disobeyed his daughter's trust and left her for his own selfishness was killing him. to think, he had been burdened with this all these years, just wanting to find her to make sure that she was alive and well, but not knowing where she was living - or even if she was alive at that point. She didn't want to imagine what that felt like, not now and certainly not ever.

"Maybe her life will pick up now, hers and Evra's budding friendship will certainly become strong, I have seen it. Just as I have seen that you and Katie will reconnect, and form the relationship that you both treasured. You just need to give both it and her time." She soothed.

Crepsley thought over what his lover said, as they lay together and talked, he decided that he would try and make it up to Katie for what he did to her all those years ago, and he even decided to see where hers and Evra's new relationship would take them - though he hoped that it wouldn't become anything serious for a very long time.


	5. Chapter 4

Three is a Crowd

It didn't take long for it to become a night time ritual for the pair, every night, resulted in either Evra being in Katie's tent, or Katie being in Evra's tent, where they spent an hour practicing their guitar playing. It didn't take long for Katie to learn the basic chords, and the most basic songs, so Evra started teaching her songs that were more complex.

"You're really good at this Katie." Evra told her one night, as they played, he had gotten less and less shy around her with each time they met up.

Katie looked up at him. "Thank you." She looked back at the guitar, they played for a few minutes, before they decided to take a break and stop, and they walked out of her tent laughing and joking. Then Katie suddenly stole Evra's beloved Beanie hat, and as she slid it on, he laughed. His shedding time was over, so he wasn't worried about her stealing his hat and getting covered in loose scales, though the reason why he laughed was because she looked really cute when she was wearing it.

"You look really cute in that." He told her, but suddenly slapped a hand over his mouth realising what he had actually said to her.

Katie looked at him. "Um, thanks Evra, I think."

_"Well done Snake boy, now you've just made things awkward between the pair of you."_ Evra thought to himself, as they carried on walking to the others.

"Hey, Katie!" They turned around at hearing someone calling her and saw Darren walking over. "You're father wants you to join me and him on a hunt."

"I'd rather stick pins in my eyes." She told him.

"Awe, come on Katie, please if you do come, then it will be more fun for me." Darren pouted, trying to make her give in.

Eventually Katie sighed. "Fine, I'll go with you." As Daren beamed, she slid off Evra's hat, and handed it back to him. "I'll see you, whenever?"

"Yeah, see you whenever."

Katie watched him walk away, before she flitted off with Darren to do some hunting, they eventually met up with Crepsley and started looking for a food source. They eventually found a group of campers, though there were only three, which was enough for the group.

"Remember; only take as much as you need." Crepsley reminded Darren. "The blood lust should be easy to ignore now."

Katie shuddered slightly, as she remembered the exact same speech that she used to receive from her father when she first became a vampire. Then, she gathered up her courage, and walked towards the group acting like she was lost.

"Excuse me, I need help." Katie told them as she walked to him, her voice shook with fake fear.

"What's the matter miss?" One of the campers asked, a burly man with dark hair and amazing muscles, and he walked up to her.

"I was with my father and a friend, and then we got separated, and now I'm lost and I can't call either of them." She started to cry.

"Awe, hey now, don't cry, we will help you look for them." The man told her, as he slid an arm around her shoulders. "Now, which direction did you last see them?" He and the other two walked in the direction that Katie pointed, which happened to be right towards a now hiding Darren and Crepsley.

"Are you sure that it was this way?" One of them asked, before the three of them suddenly hit the floor unconscious.

"Well done Katie." Darren told her as he looked at her after knocking out the humans.

"All you need is a pretty face, and men are putty in your hands." She shrugged, before she knelt down and bit into one of the men's neck, drinking only some of his blood. She waited for them to finish, before they all walked back towards the Cirque. As they got close enough to see the entrance, Crepsley flitted off to find Madame Trusca and Katie and Darren walked more slowly.

"How are you settling in?" Darren asked her.

"I'm sitting in pretty well, you Rebecca and Evra are really nice people." She told him, pulling her hood up.

"That's a good thing." He laughed. "You're a really good friend to Katie, Rebecca and Evra love having you around."

She smiled at his words. "Thank you."

The minute they got to the edge of the Cirque, they felt uneasy; there wasn't the usual laughter and joy that was normal at this time of night.

"Rebecca?" Darren called, looking around.

"Evra? Rebecca? Corma?" Katie called, looking around, not expecting the Wolf Man to suddenly run at them. "Darren, look out!"

They both turned and ran, but as they went past a still lit fireplace, she stopped. However, this turned to be a bad idea, because when she stopped the Wolf Man bit her jacket, forcing her to the ground, but she let him rip her jacket off as she got to her feet and ran to the fireplace.

"Darren, get behind the fireplace!" She shouted at him, and she stood in front of it, as she watched the Wolf Man come closer.

When he got within distance to bite her again, her hands ignited in fire and a wall of fire went between them, causing him to move away from her and as he went for Darren, she made the wall follow him, protecting Darren. She ended up moving out of the fire, and she watched the Wolf Man stalk her, this time when he went for her, a rock hit him and knocked him off of his feet, before he was suddenly encased in a rock like prison. Darren watched as the fire went out, and he looked over at Katie, worried when she suddenly fell to her knees.

"Katie!" He ran to her and knelt in front of her. "Katie, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just tired, there wasn't much fire there to use, I had to create the rest."

Darren looked around. "Guys, where are you?"

"Darren, Katie!" Rebecca suddenly ran to them, hugging Darren.

"Rebecca, what's going on?" Darren asked, hugging her back, watching her hug Katie.

"Mr Tiny is here, and somehow Wolf Man got out, and then you two appeared, but there's something wrong."

"Like what?" Darren asked her.

"Madam Trusca was injured somehow; Mr Tiny says that he can save her, for a price." Rebecca explained.

"What's the price?" Katie asked.

"He will save her, if he gets to keep you." Evra told them, looking at Katie as she stood shakily, to which he gripped her arm to steady her.

"I need to see her." She told them, and when Evra let go of her, she disappeared in a flit and into Madam Trusca's tent. "Father?" She looked at who was there, and it involved: Mr Tall who was standing with Corma and Alexander near the entrance, Mr Tiny who smirked at her as he sat on a chair, Steve standing at his side, and Crepsley who was lying beside his lover – Madam Trusca – on her bed of pillows. The sight of Madam Trusca, almost made Katie cave into tears, her skin was blooded, her hair matted, her clothes stained with her own blood and a deep and ugly wound in her stomach.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at them.

"The Wolf Man attacked her..." Mr Tall started.

"But my assistant managed to stop him from doing any real damage." Mr Tiny told her, gesturing to Steve.

Katie looked at Steve, and raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Everyone looked over at Katie in confusion, as to why she was asking a man why _he_ had decided to save on of their own.

"Why did you save a freak, since you despise them?"

"I wanted to show _you_ that I cared." He told her, looking at her as he walked over to her.

"And yet for him to heal her, I was his price?" She asked him, moving away from him. "I will not be used as a bargaining chip." She said this to Mr Tiny. "But because she makes my father happy, heal her and then I will think about it." She turned on her heal and left the tent.

As she left, Steve looked back at Mr Tiny who nodded, and he ran after her.

"Katie, wait." He eventually grabbed her shoulder, but soon found himself on his back with Katie standing over him.

"What more can you want from me? You master uses me as payment, I am no prize to be won." She told him.

"I don't think of you like that." Steve told her as he stood. "I want to join the Cirque Katie; I want to be around you more."

"Why, why could you possibly want to be around me?" She asked him, looking at him as they were suddenly facing each other, their bodies almost touching.

"Because, I think that I have feelings for you." He told her honestly, looking into her eyes. _"Wow, her eyes are beautiful." _He thought to himself.

She allowed her eyes to hold his as they stood there, but as she was about to ask him something, Evra suddenly shouted her.

"Katie, move!"

As she turned around, the Wolf Man was suddenly running towards her, however she suddenly found herself on the floor as Steve pulled her to the ground with him.

"Wolf Man, go back to your cage!" Mr Tall thundered at the freak, and Katie watched him return to his real cage.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked her as he looked at her, as he held her to him.

"I'm...I'm fine." She quickly got up, pulled her hood up of her inner jacket that she still wore, and walked away to her tent, Rebecca and Evra soon following.

Darren walked over to his former best friend, his arms folded across his chest. "What are you playing at Steve?"

"I have no idea what you're on about?" Steve told him, acting innocently.

"Why are you trying to be around Katie?"

"I'm trying to be a friend to her; she obviously doesn't have many as it is. And anyway, maybe I can get into her pants since that snake freak obviously isn't good at it." He jeered.

"Stay away from Katie, Steve." Darren warned, though Steve just laughed it off.

"Does it bother you that I want to be close to her Darren?" Steve asked. "You never know, maybe she would want to join me and Mr Tiny eventually."

"Not likely." Darren told him. "Just stay away from her, alright?" He walked away after that, going into Katie's tent, where he found Evra and Rebecca leaning against her coffin as she sat in it, now in a pair of silk short pyjamas.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, and then when she nodded, he looked at Rebecca and Evra.

"Evra and I are fine; we took shelter in my cabin." Rebecca told him as she helped Katie to settle.

"Did Steve do anything to you?" Evra asked her, the echo of jealousy was clear in his tone, despite his best attempts to hide it from her.

"No, he didn't...He saved me..." Katie told them as she lay down and Rebecca pulled the blanket over her. "Thank you Rebecca."

"You're welcome, now get some rest it's nearly morning." She shut the lid for her, and made sure no light could get in, before she blew out the candles that hung around the room.

"Night, guys." She called through.

"Night, Katie." They all called back as they left her tent.

As they walked to Rebecca's cabin, Darren looked at them. "Steve wants to be close to her, I think he actually likes her."

"Well that's obvious Darren, he thinks that she's hot, it doesn't take a genius to work that out." Rebecca told her boyfriend as they stopped at her door, Evra remaining painfully silent.

"But why does Mr Tiny want her?" Darren mused.

"I don't know." Rebecca sighed.

"She's unusual, and I mean really unusual." Evra finally spoke. "A vampire who's also a freak, that's pretty unusual even by a freak's standards." He explained. "He could want her for her gift, because she's not just unusual, she's dangerous. That power over fire she has, as well as the other elements, it can be used n a pretty dangerous way."

"Yeah, you have a point Evra, she is powerful and Mr Tiny likes power, so does Steve." Rebecca told him. "I hope she doesn't end up going with him." She sighed.

"She has until tomorrow night to decide." They all nodded at Darren's revelation, before the boys bid good night to Rebecca and went to their own tent, going to sleep.

Meanwhile, Steve and Mr Tiny were sitting in Mr Tiny's car, so that they couldn't be overheard as they talked.

"I want you to try and get close to her, get her isolated in any way that you can." Mr Tiny told Steve, an evil edge to his voice.

"I will, it will be funny to see them turn on her and then her on them." Steve told him, but he didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about their plan.

Mr Tiny smirked, but Steve looked out of the window towards where he could see Katie's tent.

"What is it Steve?" Mr Tiny asked him. "Usually you're excited about all of this, and now you're not."

"I don't know, I guess I just don't want to hurt her." Steve sighed.

"Is this love I hear young Steve?" He asked in almost mock disbelief.

"No, of course I'm not!" He told him. "She's a freak; I couldn't ever like one of them freaks really."

"Good, now I want you to join the freaks, just for a while and when I give you the all clear, bring her to me."

Steve nodded and got back out of the car. "I hate you! I want nothing to do with you!"

"You are nothing without me Boy!" Mr Tiny shouted back, glad that Steve had decided to try out his acting skills. "You wouldn't even exist, poor little Steve, no family, no friends, no one to care." He drove off; leaving Steve, covered in the mud which came from the wheels as the car sped off, standing alone in the dark.

Mr Tall watched the whole scene, and he sighed but decided to go against his conscious thought of leaving him there, bringing him into a tent and finding him some fresh clothes and a coffin.

"Stay here tonight." Mr Tall told him.

"Can I stay for longer than tonight?" Steve asked him. "I have nowhere else to go; no one else cares about me."

Mr Tall sighed and nodded. "Steve, as saviour of a fellow Cirque, I would like to know if you would like to join the Cirque."

Steve looked at him, and despite wanting to say no and throw it back in his face, he found himself nodding, his mind only on the fact that he could get closer to Katie if he stayed. It was almost like he had completely forgotten his and Mr Tiny's plan at that moment, and it actually made him happy. The next night, he was standing with Mr Tall by a fireplace, as the other freaks walked over to see what was going on, and he could point out Katie standing with Rebecca, though he frowned slightly when Darren and Evra walked over, Darren sliding his arms around Rebecca and Evra and Katie sharing a smile to each other, though Steve saw a much deeper emotion in the eyes of the half man half snake next to her.

"Everyone, listen up. This is Steve; he has decided to join the Cirque, as another vampire."

The whole group went silent, and Katie looked at Darren, Rebecca and Evra, before she looked back at Mr Tall when he silenced a few of the complaints that started up.

"Now now, I want everyone to give him a good Cirque welcome, and Rebecca and Katie can show you where your tent is." Mr Tall told them, before he left them to it and Steve walked towards Darren, Katie, Evra and Rebecca.

"Looks like I'm here to stay." He smiled.

"Oh hells help us." Evra muttered, before he watched the girls take him to a spare tent. This wasn't going to be very enjoyable.


	6. Chapter 5

Jealous Snake

Things couldn't have been more awkward now that Steve had suddenly joined the Cirque Du Freak. Everyone knew why, it was because he wanted to get close to Katie, but she was having too much fun with Evra, it was the perfect teenage love triangle. Though most girls fawned over Steve when he was around, he kept his eyes firmly on Katie. Who at this moment, was dancing with Rebecca by the camp fire, to some music that Evra had made. Steve watched from where he leant against an old oak tree, and he felt himself getting turned on as he watched how she moved. His favourite bit was where she danced in fire, though she never noticed that she was doing it. Evra had taken to watching Katie too, a small smile on his face at seeing how happy dancing made her, though it disappeared whenever he saw that Steve was also watching her.

"Evra, why did you stop?" Katie asked as she looked back at him when he had stopped playing, and when he didn't answer she walked to him and touched his shoulder.

At her touch, he snapped out of it. "Huh, what?"

"You stopped." She told him and as he was about to start playing again, she stopped him again. "You know what, if I have to go through this, then so do you." She took his guitar from him and pulled him to his feet. "Darren, can you play please?"

Darren smirked and nodded, picking up Evra's guitar, and as he started to play Evra and Katie started to dance together – laughing the whole time. Just watching them together, made everyone smile, as Evra twirled her on the spot, and kept a hand on her waist during their fast paced waltz, it even caused Crepsley to smile.

"I told you that this would happen." Madam Trusca told him as she stood beside him, her hand holding his. "She is happy now."

Mr Crepsley nodded. "Yes, she is, but I still don't trust the other boy." She nodded over to Steve, and saw the look of hatred that he had for Evra.

"Oh, ignore him, he is just an attention seeking leech." She shrugged and smiled, clapping with the others when Evra and Katie finished their dance.

As they finished their dance, their eyes never left each others, and before they seemed to realise it, their lips locked in a passionate kiss, with Katie's hands moving into his hair and Evra wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her tight against him as their eyes closed. At seeing the kiss, everyone gasped before they all applauded, after weeks, they had finally admitted to liking each other. Steve watched the whole display, and he snarled under his breath, before stalking away to his tent. Though, he turned before he went inside to see Katie walk away from Evra, and shut herself away in her tent, this made him smirk slyly. When she had gotten to the safety of her tent, Katie was sitting under the table that held her coffin and she was curled up in a ball, her head in her hands.

"Oh my god, what have I done?" She whispered to herself. "Evra is never going to talk at me now."

"Katie, open the tent." Rebecca called through, as she stood outside of the tent entrance.

"Leave me alone Rebecca!" Katie shouted back, but she still heard the tent unzip, and footsteps walk towards her. However, she soon got a shock, when it wasn't Rebecca who found her, but Evra, and with a squeak she shot out from under the table, hitting her head.

"Ouch." She muttered as she rubbed her head, looking at him. "_Oh no, he's going to hate me._" She thought to herself as she looked at him. "Evra...I'm...I'm so sorry, I don;t know what came over me."

"Katie, relax I kissed you back, remember?"He told her, walking to stand in front of her, resting a hand on one side of her neck, and his other hand found hers. "I'm in love with you."

She looked up at him. "This is futile, but I love you to."

At his smile, they pressed their lips together again, the passion in the kiss ensuring that their lips almost fused together.

Rebecca and Darren smiled to each other as they watched the couple from their safe distance at the doorway of the tent, and Rebecca looked at Darren.

"Come on, let's go." She told him, guiding him away from the tent.

When they were a respectable distance away from Katie's tent, Steve suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Hey Shan, where's Katie?"

"She's busy Steve." Darren told him, as he slid an arm around Rebecca and kept her close as he slid past Steve.

"Go and get her then." He told him.

"No." Darren told him as he and Rebecca walked away.

Steve snarled under his breath, before he walked to Katie's tent and saw her as Evra kissing, and this fuelled his anger more. "Well, that isn't how you snog a girl you know."

At being found, the couple pulled away. "Steve, what the hell are you doing here?" Katie asked him.

"I came to find you, and I found how inexperienced at kissing a girl snake boy was."

"Steve please just be nice to him, and anyway he's a good kisser." She looked up at Evra as she spoke, causing him to gain an uncharacteristic blush to his scales.

Evra looked at her and smiled. "So are you."

Katie smiled, blushing at his compliment, not really that used to receiving them.

"Why are you here anyway, Steve?" Evra asked.

"What's it to you Snake boy?"

"Steve, just tell us." Katie told him, a hand finding Evra's and she gently squeezed it as he tensed.

"I got sick of following Mr Tiny." He shrugged, mentally praising himself for how sincere and well his lie came out as.

Katie didn't seem to believe him, but she let it slide, she planned on not doing anything until he made the first move anyway.

Steve stayed for a little while longer, until it got to be almost morning and Katie needed to get into her coffin, which Evra helped her to do. Both boys turning so she could change into something more comfortable than her jeans, though all Steve wanted was a quick peak, and when he turned back he found Evra helping her into her coffin tucking the blanket around her.

"Thank you." Katie smiled at him, and they shared a longing kiss, before Evra left to get to bed.

"Hey Katie, how about me and you meet up tomorrow night, go for a walk or something?" Steve asked her.

Katie looked at him. "Yeah, okay, we can hunt as well if you want."

Steve nodded. "It's a date." He smiled and watched her pull the lid of her coffin down. "Night, Katie."

"Good night Steve." She called back as he blew the candles out for her, and left her tent. As he walked to his own tent, he pretended not to notice that Darren and Evra were watching him from their tent, whilst Mr Crepsley was watching from his tent with Madam Trusca at his side.

"Good night, my darling." Madam Trusca whispered to him, kissing his cheek.

"Good night." Crepsley told her, his eyes not leaving the Steve as he walked to his tent and shut himself inside.

"Go and get into your coffin, Katie will be fine until tomorrow night." Madam Trusca told him, and she watched him walk to his coffin and get in, shutting him inside, before she walked to her own tent – praying that things will start calming down soon between them all and this new boy.

The following night, Katie was just finishing off getting ready, when there was a cough behind her, and on instinct she turned forgetting that she was in her bra, jeans and converse.

"Nice rack." Steve commented, seeing her breasts.

Katie suddenly turned bright red, and she turned so her back was too him. "Steve, what the hell!"

"You did say that we were going for walks tonight remember?"

"Yeah, but I thought that you would have let me change first." She put on a button up shirt and fastened it, before she turned to face him again. "Come on, let's go." She walked out of her tent, trying to calm down her blush.

Steve smirked at her blush, and followed her. "So, what do you usually feed from?"

"Humans of course, I might be a freak but I'm still a vampire." She told him as they walked, and soon they flitted into the forest which surrounded the camp.

Whilst they were gone, Evra walked to Katie's tent and when he went inside and found her gone, he looked around puzzled, then decided to go and join the others at the fireplace.

Rebecca smiled as she saw him. "Hey Evra, what's up?"

"Have any of you seen Katie?" He asked, as he sat with them.

"No, I haven't." Rebecca looked at him, and then at the others who were around the fireplace. "Hey guys, have any of you seen Katie around?"

"Yeah, I think she went off camp with that Steve boy." Alexander Ribs told her, as he joined them. "They seemed to be having a lot of fun as they walked."

The mere mention of Steve, suddenly made Evra's blood boil, and he nodded a thanks, before he walked away. Watching Evra leave, Rebecca stood up and followed him, before she found him in his tent.

"Evra, what's the matter?"

"It angers me that he wants to get close to her." He admitted, watching the floor.

"Wow, you must really love her." Rebecca whispered.

"Of course I do." He told her, looking up in time to see her smile. "When she gets back, can you tell her that I'm here?"

"Of course, I can." She walked to him and hugged him. "She loves you; you have nothing to worry about." She told him, before she left the tent.

Katie and Steve came back a few hours later, and they were both laughing and joking. Steve suddenly picked her up, holding her in a fireman's lift, which caused her to scream.

"Steve, put me down!" She hit his back. "Steve!"

Steve just laughed. "No way, Katie." He carried her over to the fireplace, where Rebecca looked at them and watched as Katie was thrown into the fire.

"Katie, Evra said can you go and join him in his tent please?" Rebecca told her, as she rolled out of the fire laughing.

When she had managed to calm herself down, put out the fire and stand up she nodded. "Okay, I'll go and see him now."

Steve watched her go, before he sat with the others, deciding not to comment on how the people who sat either side of him moved away from him.

Katie walked into Evra's tent and she looked at him. "Hi." She smiled. "You wanted to see me?"

Evra stopped playing his drums and looked at her. "I went to find you earlier, and you had gone out with Steve."

"Yeah, because me and Steve are friends, Evra." She told him, raising an eyebrow. "Wait, are you jealous?"

"No...Of course I'm not." He gained a slight embarrassed tone, looking at the floor.

"Evra, you have nothing to be jealous about, you know that right?" She walked to him, so she was right in front of him and she tilted his head up to look at her.

Evra let his eyes meet hers, and he nodded. "Alright, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be getting jealous over you having friends, but I don't trust him.

"I know, and to be honest I don't trust him fully either." She told him, kissing his forehead, moving his hair out of the way of his eyes. "If I get him to trust me, I can find out what his true intentions are and put everyone's mind at rest. So just bite your tongue and wait." She told him.

"Alright." He sighed, kissing her lips gently. "One thing, can you spend tonight with me?"

"Of course." She laughed. "Can you show me how to play the drums?"

He laughed. "Alright." He moved so she could sit down, and she sat down on his stool, taking the drumsticks when they were offered to her and with his hands over hers, they started to play the drums together – closing their night on a happier note than what it started off as.


	7. Chapter 6

Your Destiny

"Now Steve, give me some wonderful news." Mr Tiny told the Vampanese in front of him, who had taken to leaning against a tree, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at him. Mr Tiny on the other hand, was leaning on his staff, looking at Steve with excited eyes.

"There isn't anything to say." Steve shrugged.

"What is happening with Shan? With that useless Crepsley, or my main aim young Katie?"

"Nothing really, Shan and his monkey girl are still together, Crepsley is with his woman, thing." He shrugged.

"What about Katie?" He asked impatiently.

"She's fine I guess." He shrugged. "There isn't much left to say after the last time we met up."

This suddenly caused Mr Tiny to get angry. "I will be at their little show tonight, and we will see if nothing happens then." He then left Steve on his own.

_"I don't want her hurt, I have to warn her."_ He thought to himself, before he flitted back towards the Cirque and found Katie playing a flute. _"Well, it's now or never."_

"Hi Steve." Katie smiled her usual smile which had Steve's heart clenching ready to burst, whenever he had the chance to see it.

"Oh, hi Katie." He smiled back. "What are you out here for; I thought you had to be in the show."

"I do, but I was waiting for you." She told him, as she stood and walked to him. "So, are you ready to go?" She asked as she pulled her long coat over her body.

"Um, yeah sure." He told her, and when she offered him her hand, he took it without a question and flitted away from the Cirque with her.

When they got to what looked like a simple old and abandoned building in the centre of town, Katie let go of his hand and she walked inside with him, going down to the basement to where the others had given her a room to change. Steve stood in the doorway, acting as her guard as he watched her take off the long coat she was wearing. When she took her coat off, her outfit stunned him to silence (look at the link in the beginning of this chapter) and he watched her fix her bralet before she looked at him.

"Does this look okay, or do I look too much of a tart?"

"You look fine." He told her. "You look very, Arabian." He told her playfully.

"Be serious Steve." She rolled her eyes.

"You look absolutely gorgeous." Evra told her as he pushed past Steve and walked to her, sliding his arms around her.

Katie blushed at his wording, before she slid her arms around him. "Thank you." She stood on her tip toes and kissed him gently.

Evra kissed her back just as gently, though he showed off to Steve, which Katie didn't mind since she just took it as he enjoyed it. Steve rolled his eyes as he looked away from them, he didn't want to ruin his friendship with Katie, so he hadn't told her how he felt, but this was getting beyond heartbreaking to have to watch. Soon after they broke apart, Madame Trusca walked to them.

"Katie, you're up." She smiled at the girl, who unwrapped herself from Evra's arms, and after a quick kiss, flitted off.

As Katie got to the top of the stairs where she needed to appear from, she heard Mr Tall reel off his usual introduction.

"And now, a beauty as hot as the Arabian dessert, as cold as the North wind and as flexible as the newest leaf, I gave you the Arabian beauty, that is our elementist, young Katie!" As he said her name, Katie had her eyes closed, and the doors suddenly blew open, which caused a few screams from the audience. Then Katie's whole body suddenly seemed to disappear from where she had been stood, and she appeared in the middle of the stage.

"I need a volunteer." She told the audience, who all looked shocked that she had appeared, and yet none of them moved. "Come on, someone brave, who isn't scared of a little girl like me." She told them, sweetly. She let her eyes wander the crowd, and she carefully moved to walk between the chairs, soon stopping at a man. "How about you, Sir?"

The man looked at her dumbfounded and he just nodded, taking the hand that he was offered and walking to the stage with her.

"Is your coat on fire?" She randomly asked, and people gasped as the man's coat suddenly caught on fire, yet it didn't burn him. When the man started to freak out, Katie took hold of the fire in her hands as if it was a solid object, and she flicked it, causing it to shoot up her arms. "Are you singed?" She asked the man, who looked down at his coat and shook his head, before she done some more tricks with him, using different elements.

The entire show ended with a round of applause from their audience, after the audience had left, the doors suddenly burst open.

"Katie, the show is over." Corma Limbs told her as she looked around but she didn't see Katie anywhere.

"That wasn't me." Katie told her as she walked up the stairs, her coat fastened around her as she held Evra's hand.

"No my dear, it was me." Mr Tiny told her, and the minute he made himself known, Mr Crepsley walked to Katie and Evra and stood in front of them, to protect them.

"What are you here for Mr Tiny?" Crepsley asked him.

"I came to see how my little star was getting on." He looked at Katie. "Her power is tremendous, isn't it?"

"It is, but that doesn't mean that you can have her." Mr Tall told him as he joined Crepsley.

"She will have to join me eventually; it is her destiny to give me her power."

"You want it, and then you'll have to take it over my dead body." Katie told him, as she gently squeezed Evra's hand.

"What is this destiny?" Corma asked as she looked at Katie when everyone else did.

"Search me." Katie shrugged. "I didn't even know that I had one."

"Everyone has a destiny, young Katie." Mr Tiny drawled. "It's what gives us our point in life."

"Maybe you should come back to the Cirque, where we can discuss this properly." Mr Tall asked, as the other left, leaving Katie, Evra, Crepsley and Steve with him and Mr Tiny.

"Maybe I shall." Mr Tiny smiled, watching Katie as she left, dragging Evra with her. When he finally got outside, he found Evra standing alone, since Katie had flitted back to the Cirque. "Where has the young one gone?" He wondered out loud.

"She wanted to get away from a snake like you." Evra told him.

"I assure you that it is you who is the snake, boy." Mr Tiny told him.

"That's enough." Mr Tall told them, as Steve and Crepsley flitted away and he and Evra got into Mr Tall's car. When they were away from Mr Tiny, Mr Tall looked at Evra. "Evra, I want you to try and find out what this destiny is."

"Don't you trust him?" Evra asked as he looked out of the car window.

"No, I do not, especially not when it comes to Katie. I care for Katie's safety just as much as you do." Mr Tall sighed. "I've known her longer, and in all that time I've never seen her as happy as she is now with you."

"What was she like when you were young?" Evra asked him, looking over to see Mr Tall smirk at the memories that flooded his mind.

"She was quiet at first, she still wore a version of the hood she wears now, but it's not as light. Her appearance has never changed; though her hair seems to be of a longer length now, her eyes...Those glistening eyes...They've never changed." He smiled at the memory.

"You sound like you loved her." Evra commented.

"I did back then, but she never knew that, she always thought of me as her brother. But I'm happy that she has you now." He told him.

Evra nodded. "Do you think that she will be alright, you know after all of this?"

"She will be, Katie is a strong person in body, mind and spirit, and it will take a lot to harm her." He sounded confident.

"Yeah but, I don't think she has come up against something like this before." He sighed, going back to the window, smiling to himself when he saw Katie waiting for them; she had changed out of her costume into jeans and her hoodie.

Evra had gotten out of the car door before it had even slowed down and he walked to her, pulling her into his arms.

"Are you alright?" He whispered to her, when she hugged him back just as tightly.

"Yes, well I am for now. Are you alright?"

He nodded, resting his head against hers as he saw Mr Tiny's car pull up.

"Shall we talk out here?" Mr Tiny asked, looking at Katie, Evra, Crepsley and Mr Tall. "But I'm afraid; Snake Boy will need to go inside instead of being attached to the girl like a leech."

"His name is Evra, and I want him to stay." Katie told them.

"I'm sorry Katie, but Evra will need to go and join the others." Mr Tall told her, looking away when her eyes widened in what he presumed to be fear.

Katie looked at him in betrayal, before she looked back at Evra. "Please, don't stay too far away." She whispered to him, as she kissed him.

"I won't." He promised her quietly, before he walked away when their kiss ended. He could feel Katie watching him walk away, but he didn't want to turn around because he knew that she wouldn't let him leave.

"Now, shall we talk about this destiny?" Mr Tall started, which made Katie look back at him, as Mr Tiny produced an old looking book. Everyone looked at the book in almost curiosity, and Katie looked back at her father as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Mr Tiny opened the book to a page that he had saved before hand, and it showed an ancient looking picture of a girl who was surrounded by the elements – fire, water, wind, earth, lightning and even thunder.

"It says here, that one day a girl with the power to control the elements, and she also holds the gift of an immortal life." He looked at Katie, then back to the book. "Her destiny is to be consumed by her girl of fire and to bring destruction to the world through her love of fire and to watch things burn."

When he finished speaking, everyone was silent for a while, until Mr Tall sighed and looked at Katie. "Katie, you know how I feel when it comes to the safety of the Cirque and everyone in it."

Katie looked at him. "But aren't I part of the Cirque? Don't I deserve to have your love and protection?"

"I'm sorry Katie, but if this is your destiny-"

"No, I make my own destiny!" She suddenly shouted. "If you want me to leave, and then fine, I will! But remember, you were the one who asked me to come back!"

Mr Tall and Crepsley watched as she simply disappeared inside the Cirque for the night, though Crepsley knew that she probably wouldn't be there in the morning.


	8. Chapter 7

The Battle Has Begun

Crepsley didn't know how right he was about Katie he actually was, until the next night Rebecca ran to them.

"Guys, Katie's gone!" Rebecca screamed.

"What?" Evra and Crepsley chorused as they joined the group, looking at Rebecca, before Evra ran to Katie's tent and looked around.

"Katie..." He sighed, though he stopped as he noticed a piece of paper tucked into the side of the coffin that she used as her bed. He moved to sit on the floor as he opened it.

_"Dear Evra,_

_I'm really sorry for leaving like this, but I still really, really love you. I can't stick around when Mr Tall was going to get rid of me anyway. It's not my fault, some book says that I'm going to hurt everyone, but I make my own destiny, and that's what I'm going to do. Promise me that you'll live a normal life, meet another girl – maybe another snake – and have a family and maybe a pet, after getting married and end up living in a house by the prairie like we used to talk about. I hope you get everything, I love you so much Evra and I promise that I will try and visit as soon as possible._

_All my love, now and forever_

_Katie."_

Crepsley didn't know how right he was about Katie he actually was, until the next night Rebecca ran to them.

"Guys, Katie's gone!" Rebecca screamed.

"What?" Evra and Crepsley chorused as they joined the group, looking at Rebecca, before Evra ran to Katie's tent and looked around.

"Katie..." He sighed, though he stopped as he noticed a piece of paper tucked into the side of the coffin that she used as her bed. He moved to sit on the floor as he opened it.

_"Dear Evra,_

_I'm really sorry for leaving like this, but I still really, really love you. I can't stick around when Mr Tall was going to get rid of me anyway. It's not my fault, some book says that I'm going to hurt everyone, but I make my own destiny, and that's what I'm going to do. Promise me that you'll live a normal life, meet another girl – maybe another snake – and have a family and maybe a pet, after getting married and end up living in a house by the prairie like we used to talk about. I hope you get everything, I love you so much Evra and I promise that I will try and visit as soon as possible._

_All my love, now and forever_

_Katie."_

"Does it say where she is?" Mr Tall asked, as he walked up behind him.

"No, just that she's gone to make her own destiny...You were going to kick her out weren't you?"

"For the good of the cirque, I had to tell her to leave."

"We need to find her." Rebecca told them as she walked to join them.

"Go and tell her father, and then we will all split up." Mr Tall told them, and he watched them all leave, before he looked around Katie's tent, sighing. "I'm sorry Katie." He whispered, before he walked out to where everyone had gathered to search for her.

"We should all split up..." Rebecca was saying.

"No, we should go in pairs, that way if there is anything out there, we can look out for each other." Steve told her.

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Evra told him, looking at him.

"Alright then, Rebecca and Corma; Steve and Evra, Darren and Crepsley and myself and Alexander will split up, going into those teams." Mr Tall told them. "Now let's go."

They all split up into their given pairs, all of them going as fast as possible. Evra and Steve took the east side, and they seemed to be tolerating each other for the first time since Steve arrived at the Cirque.

"Why do you want to find her so much?" Evra eventually asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you want to find Katie so much?"

"Because I'm her friend, remember?" Steve told him.

"I know that you want more than her friendship." Evra told him simply, he was angered and jealous about it, but he knew that he couldn't do anything.

"Alright then, Snake boy, do you want the truth?"

"That's all I ask." Evra told him as they walked.

"I'm in love with Katie, but I know how much she loves you. I don't see _why_ she loves you, but she does, and all I want is for her to be happy." Steve told him, stopping so both men were staring each other in the face.

"Then I hope you know when to back off." Evra told him simply, before he carried on walking.

Hours went by, before they eventually had to give up and head back, and Evra was becoming more and more worried.

_"Surely she couldn't have gotten far, and why did she leave without saying goodbye to me_?" Evra asked himself repeatedly, as they walked. _"Oh Katie, where are you?"_

When the two boys got back to the Cirque, they went their separate ways, walking back to their tents. They couldn't do anything more that night. When night fell again, Evra was up and ready like a shot, but he stopped at seeing Mr Tiny stood with the group, looking very smug.

"Ah, there you are, Snake boy." He said in a rather happy sounding voice.

"What have you done?" Evra asked him immediately, but we held in place by Darren and Rebecca.

"He's come to tell us where she is." Darren explained, watching as Evra slowly forced himself to relax so he and Rebecca could let go of him.

"Go ahead and talk Mr Tiny." Mr Crepsley told him, moving to stand with Darren, Rebecca and Evra.

"Well, let's be honest, it's better for me to show you." Mr Tiny looked at the fire, and it suddenly started to transform.

_The fire finally showed them a scene, it was Katie walking through the forest the past night, and she looked sad and lonely with her jacket wrapped around her body to provide the only bit of warmth that she could. Though she suddenly became defensive, pulling a lighter from her pocket and flicking it so that it came to light, though she put it back in annoyance when she saw that it was only Mr Tiny who had suddenly appeared in front of her._

_"Leave me alone." She told him shortly, aiming to walk around him._

_"Poor little Katie, abandoned by everyone, left out all alone." Mr Tiny suddenly told her, smirking to himself knowing that he had stopped her from walking. "What does it feel like to be all alone, to not have anyone?"_

_"I said, leave me alone!" She suddenly shouted, her hands igniting in flames, before she was suddenly grabbed by one of Mr Tiny's minions. Mr Tiny watched in amusement, as Katie fought those who went to grab her, before it ended with her being captured and losing the lighter which she used for power._

_"I had hoped that you would do this of your own accord." Mr Tiny sighed, walking to stand in front of the young girl._

_"Do what?" Katie asked as she struggled._

_"Katie, I want you to join me and my Vampanese, we can even get Steve back, since this was more or less his idea."_

_Katie suddenly spat at him. "Liar, I will never join you!" She told him. "Steve wouldn't do anything like that!"_

_"Oh, but I'm afraid that he already has." He nodded to one of the men who had hold of her, as he pulled a bottle from his pocket. "Open her mouth."_

_Katie tried to struggle, but it was useless, and as the contents of the liquid dripped down her throat, the scene vanished in fire._

"What did you do to her?" Mr Crepsley nearly yelled, struggling to keep his temper under control.

"I gave her what she needed, didn't I Katie dear?" He asked, looking to the shadows, where Katie walked to them, her hood up, her now bright purple eyes shining brightly and she was flanked by two rough looking werewolves.

"Katie..." Evra whispered, and like everyone he looked shocked, but only Steve walked to her.

"It suits you." He told her, moving a hand down one side of her face. "You should have been one of us from the beginning."

"I know, I feel so much more alive now." She smiled, her purple eyes looking into his.

"Come now you two, break it up." Mr Tiny told them, watching them both pull away, before he looked back at the Cirque. "She is still acclimatising to being under my control, but she will get used to it. Oh, and don't worry Crepsley, I will look after my prize." He walked towards his car, before he looked back at Katie and Steve. "Katie, Steve, let's go."

Katie and Steve looked at each other, before they turned to leave, though Katie stopped at hearing Evra say her name.

"Katie, don't leave."

"Why shouldn't I? You lot were all going to just kick me out anyway, at least with Mr Tiny I can be free." She turned on her heels and followed Steve, climbing into Mr Tiny's car. As the car drove away, a piece of paper landed on the floor, and it was picked up by Mr Tall. The piece of paper had a simple message, that told them all at the Cirque, that this had now become a battle, the note said:

_"I told you that I would win."_


	9. Chapter 8

Welcome Home

Weeks had passed since Katie joined Mr Tiny's group, and at this moment she was lounging on a chaise lounge that she had found in Mr Tiny's hideout, and right now she was just watching the ceiling.

"What's the matter?" Steve asked her as he walked to her, he had been watching her the past few days, and he knew that she wasn't happy.

"Nothing is the matter." She told him immediately, it was an automatic response that Mr Tiny ensured that she told everyone.

"Come on Katie, don't lie to me." He told her, as he lifted her legs up so that she could sit on the end of the chaise lounge and have her legs lie on his lap. "I know that something is the matter."

"Well, it's nothing bad, I just keep forgetting that I'm missing something, like there are people I know, but I don't remember anything about them."

Steve sighed, and as he was about to tell her something, Mr Tiny walked to them. "Steve, may I speak with you."

"Not like I have a choice." Steve sighed, and moved her legs off of him, before he followed Mr Tiny out of the room.

Mr Tiny brought him into what could be presumed to be Mr Tiny's office, and when the door shut, things turned angrier.

"Don't you dare tell her anything?"

"Why not, she deserves to remember her father." Steve told him.

"I don't care, I lost her for years, and I will not lose my most powerful prize-"

"She is not a prize! Stop talking about her like she isn't even remotely human!" Steve suddenly shouted. "You know what, I'm sick of this, you can't keep treating her like an object." He shouted, as he opened the door and slammed it shut, leaving and going back to Katie.

"Katie, go and get your coat." Steve told her.

"Why?" She asked, as she sat up, brushing down her hair. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking you to a circus." He told her, throwing her coat to her.

"Circuses, Steve are you mad?" She told him, catching her coat. "It's the middle of the night; no Circus will be going at this time."

"Trust me, there will be." He slid his own jacket on, and held out his hand for hers, which she took and they both went outside of what could now be described as a rundown old building, and towards a motorbike which stood outside.

"Get on." He told her, as he climbed onto the bike and allowed her to get on the back, her arms sliding around him from behind. "Hold on tight." He told her after he put the helmet on her head, and he rode off.

They didn't ride for long, before they turned up at the warehouse where the Cirque had come to perform their routines in front of another crowd of people.

"Where are we?" Katie asked him, as she took off the helmet, and pulled up her hood as she got off the back of the bike.

"You think that you've lost something, so I've brought you here to try and get you to remember." He looked at her, walking to her side. "Your father and boyfriend work for the Cirque Du Freak, you used to as well."

Katie looked at him. "I have a dad...And a boyfriend..."

"Yes, now come on, let's go and see if we can watch." He brought her inside, where they stayed at the back of the room, and were able to watch the Cirque do their routine. Steve kept a close eye on Katie, and he smiled to himself when he noticed that Katie was slowly starting to recognise her friends, her father and even her boyfriend.

"Do you remember?" He whispered, and he smiled in relief when she nodded. "Good."

It was near the end of the routine, when they watched Rebecca, the Amazing Monkey Girl, attempt some tricks on the trapeze system. However, the whole audience, apart from Steve and Katie, gasped as Rebecca's tail suddenly missed one of the trapezes and she fell towards the ground.

"Rebecca!" Katie and Darren suddenly shouted, and Katie extended her hand and a jet of wind stopped her from hitting the floor, and this had everyone turn around to look at her.

At the end of the incident, Rebecca was put back on her feet and the audience left, Katie sat in one of the rows of chairs as everyone else from that Cirque stared at her, in both shock and amazement.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to them. "Half the time I don't even know what I'm doing, just that I don't have any control over it." She put her head in her hands.

"It's alright Katie." Mr Crepsley told her as he sat next to her. "We know what has happened; it's not your fault in anyway."

"Why do you believe in me so much, dad?" She asked him, her eyes flashing from purple to their normal hazel.

"I believe in you, because I also believe that you are a very bright, beautiful and powerful young girl." Mr Crepsley told her, before he looked over at Darren. "Go and get Evra, these two needs to be reacquainted."

Darren nodded, and he went down to the changing rooms, where he found Evra sitting in what had been his and Katie's dressing room, sitting on top of the table with his snake slithering onto his lap as he looked at a picture that he had of him and Katie.

"Hey Evra, are you down here?" Darren asked as he pushed the door open.

"I'm on my way up." He sighed, putting the picture in his jacket pocket. "I'm just spending some time with my snake."

"Well, we have something for you."

"If it's another girl, or anything, then to be honest I don't want to know Darren and I'm sorry if I have hurt your feelings."

"No, I'm sure that you will like this." He walked to him and put the snake on the floor, before he grabbed him by his shoulder, and dragged him upstairs to where the group still were.

"Will you let go of me already?" Evra tried to push him off, but he stopped the moment that he saw Katie and Steve.

Katie stood when she saw him and she pulled her jacket off, showing her purple jumper underneath. "Hello, Evra." She whispered.

"Katie...You're here..."

"Evra-"Just as she was about to say anything else, Evra walked to her and their lips were crushed together, into a passionate and eager kiss.

At the kiss, everyone seemed to simply disappear, and after what seemed like hours, Evra and Katei broke the kiss, Evra keeping his hand tight in her hair and at her waist as Katie done the same, only one hand was in his hair, the other was on his shoulder. Both of them kept their eyes closed and their lips were a millimetre from each other's so they felt the others laboured breathing on their faces.

"Don't ever leave me again." Evra told her.

"I won't, oh Evra I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"I forgive you, I will always forgive you, I'm just glad that you're safe." He told her.

"Katie, we have to go." Steve suddenly told her, as he appeared by the door. "Mr Tiny will be looking for us soon, if he hasn't already."

"No, I almost lost you once, please Katie, come and stay with us." Evra told her.

"I would if I could, but I won't have him hurt you to get to me." She told him, reluctantly pulling out of the embrace. One look at the look of sadness that Evra gave her nearly had her crumbling into tears. "Steve will bring me back again, right?" She looked at Steve, her eyes bright with hope.

"I can try and bring her back every other night, that way it won't look very strange." Steve nodded.

Evra and Katie nodded, before she gave Evra another fleeting kiss and she and Steve left the building, going straight to his motorbike, and they both got onto it, riding off into the darkness.

Evra watched them go, feeling too happy to speak right now, Katie was alive and that was good enough for him, he just hoped that Steve kept his promise and allowed them to see each other a lot more. Only time will tell if that was to happen.


End file.
